Monday, August 22, 2011
B.C. FISH TO BE TESTED FOR RADIATION
The agency says it expects radiation levels found in fish tested will be below Health Canada's level of concern.
– UPI
More:www.upi.com
Halibut rules open for comment
Comments on the draft rule for catch share plan for halibut stocks in Southeast Alaska and the Central Gulf of Alaska are due to federal fisheries officials by Sept. 6.
– Cordova Times
More:thecordovatimes.com
Fraser pinks on their way
DNA analyses of pink salmon samples collected in Johnstone Strait test fisheries indicate that Fraser pinks currently account for the majority of fish in the samples. While it is too early to provide an accurate in-season assessment of the Fraser River Pink salmon return, current data are consistent with the forecast abundance (17,571,000) if the peak marine timing is as expected (August 31).
– Pacific Salmon Commission
More:www.psc.org
Some sporties ignore crab regs
Officer Chris Moszeter squatted on the deck of his 28-foot patrol boat and measured the shells of a bucketful of crab.
– Seattle Times
More:seattletimes.nwsource.com/
Cook Inlet: Tough decisions
Faced with a sockeye return that ranked among the top five all time and what may end up as the lowest return of Kenai River king salmon ever, ADFG was under even more scrutiny than usual in the most hotly contested fishery in Alaska.
– Kenai Peninsula Clarion
More:peninsulaclarion.com
Severe facial injuries
An Air Station Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew medevaced a 19-year-old fisherman with reported severe facial injuries from Ouzinkie to Kodiak.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Mount Cleveland heats up
For nearly a month now, the Aleutian volcano has shown persistent thermal anomalies.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Alexandra Gutierrez, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska
More:www.kucb.org
Muzzled biologist’s lab imperiled
A fisheries biologist has not only been muzzled by the federal government, but her lab could be in trouble as well.
– Vancouver Sun
More:www.vancouversun.com
Opening old marshland
Watching from a muddy patch of ground nearby, Jack Lenox, tribal planner and cultural committee chairman, said, "It's been about 145 years since a Coquille Tribe canoe has been up in this marsh."
– Coos Bay World
More:theworldlink.com
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
B.C. SPORTS HALIBUT SEASON CLOSING
The federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has announced a closure for the 2011 recreational halibut season at 23:59 on September 5 as the fishery has achieved its allowable catch limit.
– CNW, Canada
More:www.newswire.ca
Alaska salmon catch coming up short
Alaska's salmon season is on the home stretch and the catch will be far afield from early expectations of 203 million fish.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Laine Welch, writing in SitNews, Ketchikan
More:www.sitnews.us
Fraser sockeye: No smoking gun
There is no single disease causing organism that scientists can pinpoint to explain the decline of the Fraser River sockeye in 2009.
– Vancouver Sun
More:www.vancouversun.com
Studying green sturgeon
Green sturgeon, which are listed as "threatened" under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA), are known to inhabit waters from Northern California to Alaska. Beyond that, scientists don't know much about what they do through much of their life cycle.
– KVAL, Eugene
More:www.kval.com
Engineering away from bycatch
"Often our greatest impact is not on the species we target to catch but the species we did not intend to catch."
– New York Times
More:www.nytimes.com
St. Paul harbor officially open
This month, the City of St. Paul was finally able to cut the ribbon on its new small boat harbor.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Alexandra Gutierrez, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska
More:www.kucb.org
Another study fingers sea lice
Wild coho and pink salmon die when young fish migrate through areas where there are sea lice outbreaks on fish farms, a new study concludes.
– Victoria Times Colonist
More:www.timescolonist.com
Crescent City harbor in the red
The Crescent City Harbor is going to have significant cash flow difficulties this fiscal year due to boat basin repair projects.
– Crescent City Triplicate
More:www.triplicate.com
Salmon, steelhead in upper Willamette
The top priority for saving Upper Willamette Basin salmon and steelhead from extinction is getting more fish over the dams that control floods in the region.
– The Oregonian
More:www.oregonlive.com
States vs. Bonneville sea lions
Oregon, Washington state and Idaho have formally asked the federal government to resume killing sea lions that eat salmon at Bonneville Dam.
– The Oregonian
More:www.oregonlive.com
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
VOLCANO OFF ASTORIA
A University of Washington research ship is sending amazing live video of the aftermath of an undersea volcanic eruption. The large volcano is about 300 miles due west of Astoria, Oregon.
– OPB News
More:news.opb.org
Pebble Mine vs. wildlife
But Bristol Bay's apparent calm belies the area's geological volatility and recent dire threats posed by mining companies, which are planning to open vast copper-gold-molybdenum mines.
– Indian Country
More:indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com
Fraser sockeye continue
There were no changes to the Early Summer run size of 480,000 sockeye, the Summer run size of 1,600,000 sockeye and the Harrison run size of 850,000 sockeye.
– Pacific Salmon Commission
More:www.psc.org
Planning U.S. Arctic influence
Politicians, Coast Guard admirals, and Arctic experts will descend upon Unalaska for a meeting of the Northern Waters Task Force.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Alexandra Gutierrez, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska
More:www.kucb.org
Tongass salmon restoration plan
Trout Unlimited, Alaska Program, applauded the completion of a major salmon-river restoration project in the Tongass National Forest located on Prince of Wales Island in Southeast Alaska.
– Trout Unlimited
More:www.tu.org
CG ships: Were'd the money go?
Nearly a decade into a 25-year, $24.2 billion overhaul intended to add or upgrade more than 250 vessels to its aging fleet, the Coast Guard has two new ships to show after spending $7 billion-plus.
– Portland (Maine) Press Herald
More:www.pressherald.com
SE Dungy nets fewer crab
The Southeast Alaska summer Dungeness crab season wrapped up its six-week season on Monday, Aug. 15, with less crab caught than in previous years.
– Petersburg Pilot
More:www.petersburgpilot.com
Aquaculture looks to salmon leather
Among the sub-products of this species that have been making its way in the market, salmon leather stands out, which began to be used to make clothing and decorative items.
– FIS
More:www.fis.com
Thursday, August 25, 2011
'SMOKING GUN' IN SOCKEYE COLLAPSE
A newly discovered virus could be the "smoking gun" in the 2009 collapse of the Fraser River sockeye salmon fishery, federal fisheries biologist Kristi Miller said in her first opportunity to speak publicly in several months.
– Victoria Times Colonist
More:www.timescolonist.com
Editorial: Salmon farms not the problem
"The commission's focus will turn to salmon farming. I dare speculate the research will officially find no direct link between this lucrative business model and the decline of wild fish. … We've had our share of misuse of government funds on this side of the border. Nevertheless, I extend my fullest sympathies to the people of Canada, whose taxes have paid for this dog and pony show."
– Jessica Hathaway, editor in chief, National Fisherman magazine
More:divcom-fish.informz.net
Fraser sockeye 'decent'
Commercial sockeye harvesters on the Fraser River are enjoying a decent fishery so far this season, after dramatic fluctuations in their catch in recent years.
– Vancouver Sun
Read more:www.vancouversun.com
Sporties angry over B.C. halibut cuts
The early closure of the West Coast recreation halibut fishery is upsetting operators in B.C.'s sport fishing industry who say the catch is not being fairly divided with commercial fishers.
– CBC
More:www.cbc.ca
Alaska sports halibut plan 'disgraceful'
The new halibut catch share proposal will potentially devastate the charter fishing industry, local economies of Homer and Seward, and negatively impact virtually every business in Alaska with any dependence on tourism.
– Kenai Peninsula Clarion
More:peninsulaclarion.com
Halibut plan would kill Alaska lodges
Lodge owners in the Alaska Panhandle community of Gustavus have some simple career advice for halibut charter guides in the rest of Alaska if NMFS goes forward with a plan that would cut the 2012 limit of charter anglers to one fish: Lock the doors, they say, and hang up the "Gone Out Of Business" sign.
– Alaska Dispatch
More:www.alaskadispatch.com
Silly season: Otter awareness
The Morro Bay City Council can't seem to shake the controversy over its refusal to acknowledge "Sea Otter Awareness Week."
– New Times, San Luis Obispo, Calif.
More:www.newtimesslo.com
Hunting for hake of B.C.
After sitting off coastal Vancouver Island for more than a month, ready to process deliveries of hake from commercial fishing boats, the largest factory ship in the world has left for greener pastures in Queen Charlotte Sound.
– Canada.com
More:www.canada.com
Death on the Yukon
St. Marys-based Alaska State Troopers were notified of an overdue Boreal Fisheries tender boat.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Foodie craze: Nordic cuisine
In the last five years, a new culinary movement has washed through the world's top kitchens, flowing not from Spain, France or the Mediterranean, but from Copenhagen, Stockholm and points as far north as Lapland.
– New York Times
More:www.nytimes.com
Escorted back to Garibaldi
A Coast Guard 47-foot motor life boat crew from Station Tillamook Bay, Ore., completed the escort of the 31-foot fishing vessel Two Sons, to Garibaldi Bay, Ore., Tuesday.
– Coast Guard
More:www.uscg.mil
Friday, August 26, 2011
Halibut turmoil roils Homer
A measure that could launch a mortar at the charter sport fishing industry in Homer is a problem for the whole town to deal with, since every bait shop, kayak rental and pottery shop is tied to it.
– Homer Tribune
More: homertribune.com
Kodiak pinks vary
An Alaska state biologist says this year's pink salmon fishery around Kodiak Island has varied dramatically from one side of the island to the other. Fish and Game Management Biologist James Jackson says fish have been sparse on the west side and abundant on the east side.
– Anchorage Daily News
More: www.adn.com
Top bureaucrats silenced scientist
The top bureaucratic arm of the federal government decided a fisheries scientist who published a paper on a virus that could explain the decline of Fraser River sockeye would not be allowed to speak to the media, even though her department had no objection, an inquiry has heard.
– Globe and Mail, Canada
More: www.theglobeandmail.com
Arctic policy discussed in Unalaska
The Northern Waters Task Force met up for another meeting this week, this time in Unalaska. The group was created by the state legislature, and it’s tasked with coming up with recommendations on Arctic policy that work for Alaska.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Alexandra Gutierrez, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska
More: www.kucb.org/
Alaska Fisheries Report
Coming up this week, those angry charter boat captains give NOAA's Jane Lubchenco an earful in Homer, Saint Paul's new boat harbor is ready for fishermen, and how many little fish does it take to make a big one?
– KMXT, Kodiak
More: www.kmxt.org
No decision on Juneau memorial
The Docks and Harbors Board is still working on what to recommend to the Assembly for the movement (or non-movement) of the Alaska Commercial Fishermen’s Memorial.
– Juneau Empire
More: juneauempire.com
Tongass river declared healed
A celebration was held to mark the restoration of a river in the Tongass National Forest that was once renowned for producing salmon and trout but was damaged decades ago by the effects of clear-cut logging.
– Anchorage Daily News
More: www.adn.com
New Unalaska harbor dedicated
While the Carl E Moses Small Boat Harbor still isn’t quite at completion, local and state officials gathered there with champagne to dedicate the $56 million project.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Alexandra Gutierrez, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska
More: www.kucb.org
B.C. intervention clears salmon path
Kwinageese River salmon are once more making their way to their spawning grounds after biologists and engineers crafted a plan to help them clear a waterfall that had been blocking their passage.
– BC Local News
More: www.bclocalnews.com
Ketchikan CG open house Saturday
Coast Guard Base Ketchikan commands including the Coast Guard Cutters Naushon and Anthony Petit are hosting an open house for the public from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Saturday.
– Coast Guard
More: www.d17.uscgnews.com
